Thursday, May 19, 2011

Historic Kirtland - Part 2

We finally have a new phone and a steady, dependable internet connection! Thanks Julie and Dean for helping us so much with this!

But now we have a lot of catching up to do, so, our intention is to post every couple of days for a while. And first on the list, Historic Kirtland - Part 2.

There is much that is special about Kirtland.

Kirtland is the one and only place where the Church owns an original structure in which appeared together Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. That structure is not, of course, the Kirtland Temple. The Father and Son did appear there but we don’t own that. However, the Father and Son actually appeared here in Kirtland together, four times. We have no record of a place where the Father and Son appeared more times. Ever. And one of those times was in the School of the Prophets on the upper floor of the Whitney Store. The Church does own that structure and we help care for it. This is a picture of that room - the School of the Prophets room.

Our ancestor, Luke Johnson, was one of 24 invited to attend there. He missed the first session, being out of town serving a mission. We assume that he attended the remaining classes.

We held a meeting there with Brother Anderson (Mr. Kirtland). It was a very special opportunity and we felt the Spirit there very strongly. Not only did the Father and the Son appear here together, but the Savior appeared here multiple times in addition to that appearance.

The 88th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants refers to that room as “the house of God”, “the house of the Lord”, and “mine house” and also describes ordinances which were to be administered there. In other words, that room was considered as a temple for a limited time and for limited purposes. A very special room, indeed.

But, the most special place, of course, is the temple, despite the fact that we do not own it,. What a unique and wonderful place!

It was also impressed upon us the joy that was felt when the Temple building itself was completed and then dedicated in 1836. We figure that it had been approximately 1400 to 1500 years since there had been a temple on the earth – fourteen to fifteen hundred years! That’s a long time. It is no wonder that Heavenly Father and His Son were very pleased and that the angels shouted with joy, when a Temple - the Kirtland Temple - could once again be found on the earth.

And many manifestations were experienced when that temple was dedicated. Many saw and heard marvelous things and the event has often been compared to the Day of Pentecost written of in the New Testament.

Brother Anderson helped us understand that the Spirit can still be felt there, and we did.

And the Community of Christ Church does a good job of caring for that old building. We have a good relationship with them and work together on many things.

President Sorensen (the Mission President here) was with us and shared his feelings about serving here. And there doesn’t seem to be a better way to say it. “Sometimes I have to pinch myself and say, ‘Hey, you get to be a missionary here!’”.